U.S. Trade Representative Falls Down Shaft, Injures Back

August 16, 1993

WASHINGTON (AP) _ While vacationing in Geneva, U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor stepped into an airconditioning shaft on a hotel roof, plunged 12 feet and injured his back, a spokeswoman said Monday.

The accident happened after Kantor and other guests were invited to the roof of the Hotel Metropole to watch fireworks Saturday night, said Dianne Wildman, a press officer with the trade office.

Kantor was looking for a chair in the dark when he stepped into the shaft and dropped to the bottom, Wildman said. He was hospitalized two nights in Geneva with an injured vertebra and released Monday.

Kantor, traveling with his wife and daughter, planned to finish his two- week vacation in Italy, Wildman said.

He left Washington on Friday night after wrapping up negotiations on side agreements to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

″It’s so bizarre and it’s just a shame,″ Wildman said. ″Clearly he wanted to go and relax and then this happens.″